Spirit Week
by katespader1128
Summary: Rosewood High in having Spirit Week and a certain teacher can't participate because of the actions of a certain student. Will be a multi-chapter story.
1. Chapter 1

"Dammit!" he screamed in frustration. This was the last possible place it could be; the bottom drawer of his dresser. "Dammit!" he said again as he shoved the drawer closed.

It was Spirit Week at Rosewood High. And as was tradition, apparently, the Friday of Spirit Week was reserved for Juniors and Seniors. Seniors wore shirts of the college they were planning on attending in the Fall and Juniors wore clothing of a school they planned on applying to in the Fall - usually what they would consider to be their top pick. Ezra had learned just the day before that apparently, teachers got involved with this particular spirit week activity too; teachers wore clothing from the school that they had gotten their degree from. The school thought this was a way to connect students and teachers thru past and future alma matars.

Ezra had been searching all morning for his yellow Hollis sweatshirt. It was by far one of his favorite articles of clothing he owned, and not just because a certain tiny brunette enjoyed wearing it just as much as he did. He was frustrated because it was supposed to be hanging in his small closet and should have been easy to spot among the dark work clothing and the bright yellowness of the sweatshirt. After searching thru each of the hangers, he moved to his dresser and looked in each drawer. Still nothing.

He moved on to the other parts of the small studio apartment. Not in the dirty hamper (although he was pleasantly surprised to find some of Aria's discarded clothes in the hamper. He liked that their clothes mingled together in the basket; it gave him a sense of feeling like this was *their* home, not just his). Not in the bathroom. Not under the bed. He even checked between the couch cushions, knowing that sometimes their nights started on the couch and by the time they reached the bed, the clothing had been removed long before getting there. It just wasn't anywhere.

After realizing he was already late, he left, mad at himself for not being able to handle a simple task such as spirit week. He had on his typical trouser pants, button down shirt, grey vest, and a red tie a certain student had given him a few months ago. If he was going to fail at Spirit Week, he could at least ensure he would impress at least one student that day.

As he drove to school, he glanced around the car, muttering to himself. Where the hell is that damn sweatshirt?

He got to school and said his usual morning pleasantries to the faces he passed. There was old Miss. Miller, the school's 82 year secretary. Rumor had it that Miss Miller had been at Rosewood High when it opened its doors 61 years ago. She was married to the school the way a business owner is married to their company; she never married, never had kids and the bitterness of a life alone seethed out of her teeth at every opportunity.

"And where is your school spirit today, Mr. Fitz?" Miss Miller asked without looking up, Ezra as he walked passed her, to get to his mailbox.

"It is currently missing like a lost sock," Ezra told the woman. "I couldn't find my Hollis sweatshirt anywhere this morning."

"Maybe you should start planning a little better," Miss Miller said, still typing away at her typewriter.

"Yes, you're absolutely correct Miss Miller. Thank you for your advice," Ezra said, trying to get out of the office. _She has no one and you're in love; she has no one and you're in love._ he repeated to himself over and over in his head as he tried to leave without offering the secretary some advice of his own regarding mustache maintenance.

He walked down the hallway and smiled at other teachers and said hi to some of his students. He saw Spencer and Hanna coming towards him in the hallway. Spencer was sporting her UPenn polo shirt proudly. He chuckled to himself to himself as he saw Hanna wearing a black t-shirt with Parsons etched in glitter on it. The newest season of Project Runway had started a few weeks ago and Aria had introduced him to Tim Gunn; he knew exactly what Parsons was and was happy to know why he knew.

"Ladies. Good morning," he said, as he approached them.

"Mr. Fitz," Hanna said with a smirk. Ezra didn't even bother trying to figure out why the blonde was wearing a dopey grin on her face. Aria had spoken enough about the girls to feel like he knew them personally, but he still tried very hard to maintain a teacher-student relationship with the other three girls. He knew that the three of them were aware of his and Aria's relationship, and they knew that he knew that they knew, but there was an unspoken truce between them and he wanted to maintain that for as long as possible.

"Hannah!" Spencer scolded. "Stop that."

"What?!" Hanna asked incredulously. "I didn't say anything other than his name. I did NOT say anything else," she said confidently, while smirking at Ezra. "So, Mr. Fitz, where is your Spirit Week spirit today?" she asked.

Ezra looked at the girls, not quite sure where this was going. "Uh…you know, funny story. My favorite college shirt is missing. But don't worry, school spirit is deep inside me," he said. And at that, Hannah burst into a fit of uncontrollable giggles.

"We have to get to bio Mr. Fitz. NOW." Spencer commanded to Hanna as the brunette pulled the blonde away. While Spencer was giving Hanna death glares with her eyes, Ezra decided this was not something he was going to understand and kept walking to his classroom.

Ezra had two periods of freshmen before he got to his favorite class in third period. The freshmen in his first two classes weren't terrible, but their love of literature and great works of writing had yet to be discovered, so while he wanted to have passionate discussions about Oliver Twist and Frankenstein, the classes generally wanted to know what day they'd get to watch the movies. Ezra got to his classroom, set his leather briefcase on the desk, and started writing the freshmen lesson plan for the day on the chalkboard.

The next two hours passes surprisingly fast. He wasn't sure why, but his students actually seemed to have read the previous night's assigned chapters and were actually engaged in class discussion that day. While he usually spent the last 15 minutes of his second period writing the lesson plans for his junior classes on the chalkboard, he didn't get a chance because the class was fully engaged in whether Napoleon the pig was justified in his new rules for the Farm or not.

"…two legs versus four legs? Can anyone tell me what metaphor in society this may represent in today's world?" he asked. Before a student in the second row could answer, the bell rung. Ezra smiled. This was the first time he didn't use second period as a countdown clock to when he got to see her in third period.

"Well, great class everyone. Really. Best class we've had all year. Go home and read the next two chapters. And think about the metaphors the farm represents!" he yelled as the students were rushing to leave the room.

He turned his back to the board and began to write discussion topics on The Catcher in the Rye. The class had just started the novel earlier in the week, but he was hoping they would love it as much as he had when he first read it in high school. His back was to the board as the juniors started milling in, chatting about previous classes, the big test in geometry after lunch, and the pep rally taking place during last period of the day, since the big football against Stars Hallow was later that night.

At the sound of a certain giggle, his eyes turned to the left and saw Emily, Spencer, and Hanna walk in. At the sight of the three girls missing their fourth piece, he turned his whole head to the group and cocked his face to the side at them, indicating a question with his face. Hanna looked at him and giggled, while Emily and Spencer just smiled and kept walking into the room. "Hanna, you sound like a hyena," Emily said quietly. The girls took their seats and Ezra finished writing on the board. As the final bell for the period rang, indicating it was time to officially start class, she still wasn't there.

He twisted his hands together, unsure of how to proceed. He needed to start class, but was worried something may have happened to her; that she may be sick or hurt or mad at him for eating the last dumpling the night before. He tried to get a sense of the situation from Spencer, the least likely to draw attention or giggle, but she kept her head down to the notebook she was writing in. Shockingly, Emily and Hanna were doing the same. Ezra didn't like this, but knew he couldn't keep stalling the beginning of class.

"Alright. Good morning everyone. Let's get started," he announced. "So, you all should have read the first three chapters of Catcher in the Rye by now. Let's start with a general discussion of what everyone…" and he was cut off mid-sentence by the classroom door opening. And as the door opened wider, Ezra had to consciously restrain his tongue from falling out of his mouth and dropping to the floor. There, standing at the door to his classroom, was his missing yellow sweatshirt.

Well, to clarify, the missing sweatshirt came with the missing girl.

Aria walked in, wearing the old, soft, yellow Hollis sweatshirt. Ezra didn't think he had ever seen her wear a sweatshirt outside of his apartment, let alone to school. But there she was. She had matched the too-big-for-her sweatshirt with a short black, pleated mini-skirt that Ezra knew had to be a violation of the dress code. She was also wearing knee high black socks and Mary-Jane heeled shoes. Her long, brown hair was curled to perfection and was highly loosely around her face. He didn't know where to look – her beautiful face, her butt that was barely covered by the skirt, the slender legs wrapped up in – UGH – knee high socks, or her chest where HIS sweatshirt was covering HER chest.

As Ezra was trying hard to remember to breath – in and out. In and out. In and out, you idiot – she slipped something in his hand. "Sorry I'm late Mr. Fitz, here is my excuse note from Mrs. Welsh," she said, as she slid into her seat towards the back, surrounded by her friends. As she sat down, and the rest of the class turned their attention back to him, she looked up at him with her big doe eyes, and gestured towards the note in his hands with her eyes.

 _I've got spirit, how about you?_ The note simply said. He let out an audible noise that was a mix between a grunt and a laugh and something getting stuck in his throat.

"Ok, where were we?" he asked the class. "Oh, right, Catcher…"

"Mr. Fitz?"

"Yes, Hanna?" he asked, looking at Hanna, already regretting calling on her.

"Um, Mr, Fitz. Not that I don't appreciate men pulling off a vest and looking great while doing it," the class snickered at this comment, "but, don't you believe in school spirit? I mean, you must have gone to college, since you're a teacher, right?" she asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible. Ezra glared at Hanna, feeling how Spencer must have felt earlier in the morning. He shot a quick glance over to Aria and saw she was trying suppress her own smile.

Ah. I see, he thought as it all clicked in his head. "Ah, well Hanna. You're right, I did get my college degree. But my favorite college shirt seems to have gone missing, so I opted for my favorite tie today instead," he said while smiling, but unable to look in Aria's direction for fear that the other students would notice. Aria couldn't suppress the grin growing on her face as he said that; it was the tie she had given him and he had subsequently worn on all their major dates and special events. She loved that he admitted to the class that the tie that she had given him was his favorite.

"Well, what does it look like? Maybe we could all help you find!" Hanna suggested, smiling at her teacher, knowing this was making his squirm.

Before Ezra could think of an answer that wouldn't call out the shirt that a certain someone in the back of the room was wearing, Emily, with a sympathetic face, came to his rescue. "Mr. Fitz? I actually had a question about the reading assignment," Emily said.

Ezra sighed a breath of relief and sat back on his desk to start the class discussion. After a group lack-luster discussion from the class, he told them to pull out their fiction stories they had been working on and use the rest of the class to write and edit, since the papers were due on Monday.

As the students pulled out their notebooks and got to work, Ezra went back to his desk and sat down. He pulled out the stack of essays the freshmen had turned in earlier in the week to finish grading; he told himself he had to spend the class being as productive as his students, or suspicions would arise. His plan lasted for all of 3.5 minutes before he heard a click of heels on the floor coming towards him. He looked up and there, draped in yellow, she was.

"Mr. Fitz?" she asked innocently, while gazing at him. "Would you mind helping me with this paragraph in my story? I can't seem to get the wording just right," she said, while smiling.

"Uh. Of course, Ms., Montgomery. What part of the story is this?" he asked, while shuffling papers on his desk, to make room for her notebook.

"Oh, the climax of the story," she said, while placing the note book on the desk. At the word "climax", Ezra suddenly remembered the last time he had seen Aria in that yellow sweatshirt…


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: So, I haven't written fanfiction in over 15 years but after binge watching PLL for the past few months, my fingers were itching to get a story out. Not sure where this story will end up, but it will be a few chapters long. Any reviews are appreciated, as I don't know if this is any good or not and whether it is worth continuing; if you can, let me know.**

 **Also, just to clarify the timeline, I see this happening somewhere towards the beginning of the show; with him still teaching at Rosewood and her parents not knowing about the two of them yet. I'm not a good suspense writer, so there probably won't be much "A" in this story.**

 _The last time Ezra had seen her in the yellow sweatshirt…_

They had gotten caught in the rain that night. They had driven to the next town over to go see It Happened One Night at the old movie theatre and had parked a few blocks away. They hadn't minded when they walked in, as it was a nice night and they could hold hands without seeming out of place or worried someone would see them. After the movie, they were surprised to come out and see that it had started pouring down rain.

"Dammit. What is it with us and rain?" he asked, while eyeing the sky under the comfort of the theatre's awning.

"I don't know, but it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon," she said, already shivering from the cold the rain had brought. She had worn a skirt and a light, gauzy top, and heels – not exactly an outfit meant for downpours. She clutched his hand tighter.

He looked over at her and smiled. He loved how much he loved this tiny creature clutching his hand tightly. He loved how much he wanted to protect her and keep her safe. He loved how much his life had changed in the past year and how she was the cause of it all.

"Ok, well, I've got an idea. Do you trust me?" he asked, looking down at her beautiful face.

Aria was taken aback. "Ezra, of course I do. What do…" she was suddenly cut off as he feet left the ground and were hoisted into the air. Ezra had picked her up and tossed her petit body over his shoulder like a bag of a potatoes. "Ezra! What are you doing?!" she exclaimed.

"Shush woman. I'm getting us to the car, faster than you attempting to run in those heels," he said as he looked both way down the street and broke out into a sprint towards the car. The two instantly became soaked, but were making great time with it just being Ezra as the one dashing down the pavement, and not Aria attempting to keep up in her 3 inch heels.

After a few soaking wet minutes, Ezra had gotten them to his car and set her down on the sidewalk. He had every intention of getting into the car and turning the heat on a quickly as possible, but before he could get to the driver's side of the car, he felt his arm being grabbed.

Aria pulled him back into her and kissed him hard, pulling his down towards her by grabbing his neck. He didn't know what to think at first, but then leaned into the kiss as much as she was pulling him into it. After what felt like a lifetime, but was really only a few moments, she pulled away.

"What was that?" he asked, with the rain still coming down.

"Have I ever told you about my _Notebook_ fantasy?" she said, grinning at him. He looked confused for a split second and then he smiled.

"Well, I don't have a boat, but we could pretend like this Camry is a boat back to my apartment?" he yelled over the rain. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. They both got into the car and he turned up the heat for them. It was only a 15 minute drive back to the apartment, but it felt like forever to the both of them.

With her parents out of town at couple's retreat, Aria and Mike were on their own for the week. Mike didn't officially know who Aria was dating, but he knew there was a guy in Aria's life and that's all he wanted to know. When their parents went out of town together, the two of them had an understanding that they would come and go as they wanted from the house, but checking in with each other each night around 7pm to let the other know if they'd be home that night or not. Aria had texted Mike before the movie started that she would be out all night and would see him at school the next day; Mike had texted her back with a simple "ok".

The wet couple drove back to his apartment, happy that the heat was on and happy that they would get to spend the entire night together. When they pulled into his parking lot, the rain hadn't let up and was still coming down hard. "Do you want me to carry you again?" he asked, while shutting off the car.

"No," she said, pulling off her heels. "It's not too far and I'll be faster without my shoes." They looked at each other and nodded together and then ran into the night. The distance was short, but seemed so much longer with the rain and the wind. When they got inside the apartment building, they kept running up the stairs, all the way to the third floor. By the time they reached his apartment, they were cold, wet, and out of breath. He reached into his jeans and pulled out his keys and opened the door for her.

As soon as they were both safely inside the apartment and the door was shut and locked, he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her up against the door with his mouth. His hot mouth covered hers and his tongue forced its way into her mouth. His hands gripped her butt, hoisting her further up door. She understood what he was trying to do and quickly wrapped her bare legs around his waist and wrapped her arms around his neck. He pushed into her with his hips, not feeling close enough to her. He explored her mouth with his tongue and massaged her ass with his hands.

She was gripping his hair tightly, trying not to fall to the floor. As his lips moved to her neck, she moaned into his ear. Over time, she learned that Ezra was not just a fan of the written word, but also words during intimate times. "Yesssss…right there Ezra," she moaned directly into his ear. Hearing her moan his name seductively like that made Ezra become instantly rock hard. "Yess…please don't stop Ezra. Don't stop," she pleaded as his lips sucked and nipped and kissed and licked the soft skin under her long, wet hair. Aria knew if she kept up the moaning, he wouldn't last long at all. "Mmm…Ezra, you know just the spot," she urged him on. Ezra's pants now felt like they were going to literally split into, with his member acting as the axe.

His strong arms gripped her petit frame tighter, so he could move them both away from the front door. He carried her to the bathroom and set her on the sink. (They seemed to have a thing for counter tops, having used this particular bathroom counter many times previously). As he set her down, she immediately grabbed his hair and pulled him back into her. It was her turn to kiss his mouth, his cheeks, his neck. As she trailed kisses over his ears, moaning a little with each soft kiss, her hands started to unbutton his shirt. She loved the intimate action of unbuttoning his shirt; it was something she would never grow tired of. As soon as she got to the last button, she yanked off the oxford shirt and then lifted his under shirt off his torso. Once she had him naked from the waist up, she pushed him away from her a little bit.

"What's wrong?" he asked, slightly out of breath, looking at her.

Aria bit her lip and grinned. "I just…I never get tired of looking at that," she gestured to his chest; his perfect, slightly tanned and toned chest, with the smallest hint of defined abs showing. He sported a happy trail from his belly button that lead down into his boxers.

Ezra, feeling slightly exposed suddenly, started to blush. "what are you talking about?"

"I've just never thought I'd be lucky enough to ever get a teacher as sexy as you," she said, smiling up at him. He started to get his signature, dopey, Ezra grin on his face, and eased his body back into hers.

He put his lips right up to her ear and whispered, "and I'm all yours." At that, they were both at each other like animals in heat.

Ezra ripped the gauzy top off her body and lifted her camisole over her head. He expertly undid her bra and tossed it over his shoulder. Aria was working the fly of his pants, pulling down the zipper and yanking down his pants and boxers in one motion.

Ezra stood there naked, expect for his pants around his ankles, and Aria with only her skirt on, sitting on the bathroom counter. They pressed their skin together, creating warmth between the two bodies. His string hands were running up and down her back, with his fingers trailing her spine. Her hands were on his butt, squeezing and massaging. His mouth left hers to move to her breasts. At first he planted kisses over both soft mounds, but he finally slipped her right nipple into his mouth. At the sudden feeling of his hot breath enclosed around her nipple, Aria arched her back into his face and groaned. "Ohhhhhhhhhh!" It was all the motivation he needed to suck the pink nipple even harder, swirling his tongue around it and teasing it ever so slightly with his teeth. She gripped his hair even tighter, needing to hold on to something for fear of falling off the sink.

He kept one hand on her hip to keep steady and let the other hand wonder to her thighs. At the slightest touch of his hand there, she immediately spread her legs wide, giving him all the access he may want. Ezra took advantage of this and wasted no time putting his hand on her panty covered flesh. He'd be lying if he said he was surprised at how wet her panties were but he had learned early on in their relationship that Aria's panties got wet easily. He liked that he had this kind of effect on her. He rubbed the wet panties with one finger and his hair was pulled even harder. "OW!" he said, pulling away from her chest.

"sorry!" Aria exclaimed, feeling terrible at pulling his hair as hard as she had.

He laughed. "It's ok. Are you ok? You're not usually this jumpy." He said, looking into her eyes.

"I'm fine," she said reassuringly. "I'm just still cold from the rain."

"Well, why didn't you say anything?" he asked, feeling like a genuine jerk for keeping her so cold.

"I'm fine, really! I am!" she said, trying to pull him back towards her. But he was stepping out of his pants and opening the shower curtain. He reached in and turned on the water and waited for the hot water to start producing steam. One thing they had learned about each other early on was that they both enjoyed insanely hot showers; hotter than what was probably healthy for the normal human body. The problem with this was when they took separate showers, the first person usually ended up taking up most of the hot water and the second person was left with what could only be described as a lack luster shower. But, once they had become intimate, showering was more often than not a joint venture, making sure they both got to enjoy the hot water and each other.

Once the water seemed to be at the right boiling temperature, he told her to get in. She happy obliged and stepped into the hot shower, with him right behind.

They didn't talk much during their showers. Sometimes they were intimate and sometimes it was just handing each other shampoo bottles and getting everything washed quickly (usually as a result of hitting the snooze button too many times and needing to get to school without being late). Tonight, there weren't words, but just a show of love for each other.

After she had gotten her thick hair wet, he reached for her shampoo bottle and squirted some in his hands. He proceeded to massage her scalp and wash every strain of hair on her head. He would never admit this to anyone, except maybe her, but one of his favorite things about showering with her was her hair care products. They were pink and girly and smelt like a mixture of coconut and flowers. It was smell he now related to her completely and when he showered alone, he would miss the smell of her shampoo in there with him.

He washed and conditioned her hair and then used the body wash and a luffa to wash her body. He grinned as he made sure to get all the curves and all the intimate spots of her body (twice in some spaces; to be super sure he had gotten them). She kept her eyes closed while he washed her and he could hear her sigh as he traveled around her body. When she was done, she opened her eyes and simply said "thank you." He kissed her back in response.

She then returned the favor and washed him with a bottle of Old Spice body wash and shampoo. Well, she tried to wash his hair, but because he was so much taller than her when she wasn't in heels, it was always a tough task. They would laugh and he would eventually finish the job for her. After his hair was clean, Ezra was considering making a move to take the shower to the next level when he heard a noise. Aria had just let out a deep yawn.

"Sleepy?" he asked, with the hot water still washing over them.

"Mmmhmm," she responded, with her eyes already half closed. Ezra leaned down and kissed her on her the top of her head.

"Ok, let's get you to bed," he said, turning off the shower. He stepped out first, and grabbed her hand as she stepped out, to ensure she wouldn't slip. He took one of the fluffy white towels off the rack and proceeded to drag her off all over.

"Ezra, don't worry about me; I can do it," she said, trying to brush him off.

"No, no, I need to make sure you're totally dry," he said, smiling at her. And he did; he dried her until there wasn't a spec of water left on her. He gave himself a quick once over with the towel and wrapped it around his waist, as she stood there naked. "Hang on, I'll be right back," he said, leaving the bathroom.

He returned a minute later, with a yellow object in his hand. "I checked and the laundry doesn't seem to be finished yet, so I thought you may want to sleep in his tonight?" he asked, offering her the Hollis sweatshirt.

She smiled ear to ear. "Of course I would; this is my favorite thing to sleep in anyways."

"Well, don't get too comfortable in it. You're not taking it out of this apartment," he told her, referring to the times she had tried to convince him to let her take the sweatshirt home so she could sleep with a piece of him at night. He loved her but he always refused, fearing that the sweatshirt would be found and their relationship would be found out, or worse, the sweatshirt would be tossed by one of her parents. (KIDDING).

"Sure, whatever you say dear," she said cheekily, looking at him as she pulled the soft fabric over her head. She stood there in only his college sweatshirt, that went past her butt, without panties on, with wet messy hair, and Ezra's heart felt like it could explode with pure joy. THIS. This is what the term "home" meant; it wasn't about a fancy house or lots of stuff to fill that fancy house. It was about the feelings his body felt when he saw this tiny brunette creature, with big doe eyes, wearing his college sweatshirt, in his bathroom, and getting ready to get into bed with him.

After he put on a pair of boxers, they slipped into bed together. She burrowed under the blankets and he wrapped a strong, protective arm around her frame, and pulled her close. He kissed her hair once and they drifted off to sleep together.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: Just a short filler chapter to lead into the next chapter; back at his apartment. Also, at the suggestion of my first reviewer (!), I did change the rating to M, as the flashback was more M than T.**

"Mr. Fitz?" she asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

He had been caught deep in thought and was embarrassed his mind wondered for so long in front of his class. "Oh, yes Aria. What was the question?" he asked her, finding it difficult to breath with her standing so close to him.

"Do you think this last paragraph works well as the ending, or should I expand it? You know, open it up wider and put more into it?" she asked coyly, while eyeing him and sneaking an evil grin on her face.

He hated her. Well, no. He loved her. He loved her with every fiber of his being. But at that second, he couldn't stand to be near her. She had bent down so that her face was level with his and her elbows were leaning on his desk, pointing at her paper. This caused her butt to jut out a bit from her frame and as he took a very quick glance to the back of her body, he could see just the slightest hint of butt under her skirt. And the way she smelt; her smell! She smelt like a mixture of her shampoo and his body wash; a smell that completely intoxicated him.

He gulped and finally looked down at her paper.

 _Sorry I snuck out this morning. What are you doing during the pep rally later? Want to get out of her early?_

He smiled and told her, "Aria, this is great. Really. But, I think it could use a little editing." He grabbed a red pen from his pencil cup and started scribbling on her paper.

 _I can't believe you stole the sweatshirt. I should force you to give it back to me right now._

Aria looked at him and smirked. "Mr. Fitz, yeah, that's good. But I think I have one last sentence that would finish it off nicely."

 _Or maybe you should punish me for stealing it during the Pep Rally?_

Ezra audibly choked. The class looked up from their own papers and he quickly played it off as an attempt to clear his throat. Hanna watched her teacher readjust himself in his chair; it was subtle, but she had an idea what was going on.

"Uh…yes. Well, Miss Montgomery, that's certainly a dramatic ending to your story. It would definitely leave me wanting more," he told her.

"Oh, well, isn't that what they always say? Leave them wanting more?" she asked him innocently. "Glad you approve Mr. Fitz. Thank you for your help," she said, picking the paper. She walked back to her desk and Ezra could have sworn that she walked slower than normal and that her hips swayed much more than normal on the walk back to her desk. He sat there, urging the bulge in his pants to decompress and for other students to not come up to his desk.

When Aria got back to her desk, her phone buzzed. It was a text from Hanna.

 _I don't know what you wrote but Fitzy is sweatin bullets up there now_

Aria glanced back up at her teacher and felt guilty for making him look so disheveled all of a sudden but knew her "punishment" would come later. She spent the rest of the class working on her actual story. The one unspoken truce between her and Ezra had always been the line of grades; their romantic relationship would not cause her to slack off in his class nor would it enable him to grade her on unfair curve. She studied for all his tests and wrote all her papers. He graded her as he would any other student. They never spoke about the grades he gave her and she earned and they intended to keep it that way.

The bell rang shortly after and as the students were getting up to leave, Ezra stopped them. "Hey guys, I know it's lunch time, but I really need to get these papers back to you, so please hang out until I call your name. If you have questions or need to discuss, you can come find me Monday," he announced to the class. He called out each student and handed back the essays. There were some sighs and some groans from the departing students, but he ignored them.

"Hanna," he called, handing the blonde her paper. "Good job, very impressive."

"Thanks Mr. Fitz, I really hope you have a great rest of the day," she said, giving him a wink. Ezra looked away quickly, pretending not to have seen that.

"Miss Montgomery?" he handed her the paper and gestured at it with his eyebrows. Aria grabbed Hanna by the arm and walked out while saying "thank you."

As she got into the hallway she looked down at the paper. The big red A on the top wasn't a surprise, she had worked really hard on this paper and was happy he thought the same. What was surprising was the red arrow pointing to the right on the margin of her paper, under the A. She flipped the first page over and saw the second page had a post-it note attached to it.

 _ **Can't skip the pep rally.**_

 _ **Meet me at the apartment at 430pm.**_

Although she was disappointed that she would actually have to go to the pep rally and spend her afternoon rah-rah-ing the football team, she was glad she'd get to see him later.

"What does the note say?" Hanna asked her.

"Oh, that we'll see each other later," Aria said.

"Well, do you think the planned worked?"

"Yeah…but I guess I'll know for sure later tonight," Aria responded.

At lunch, the previous day:

Aria was sitting with Hanna and trying to get advice. "It's not boring. It's definitely not boring. But…" Aria trailed off.

"…but maybe there could be more?" Hanna asked.

They were talking about Aria's physical relationship with Ezra. Aria wasn't bored with it. At all. She enjoyed being with Ezra on an emotional and intellectual level. And even though they didn't get to the FULL physical relationship until many, many months into their relationship, it was worth the wait. Ezra was romantic and sweet and kind and always made she was ok with everything they did; especially when something new was introduced. But Aria had a feeling in her gut that he was holding back; that he was being TOO considerate and TOO gentle. They both knew that he was much more experienced than she was, but that didn't mean Aria wanted to be treated with kids gloves. If she was old enough and mature enough to have sex, then she wanted to experience REAL sex and not some watered-down version.

"Well, let's think about this. Is there anything he's really into? Any fantasies that could be acted out?" Hanna asked.

"Um, I don't know. I don't think we've ever talked about that," Aria told her, racking her brain.

"You mean, not even teacher-student!?" Hanna asked in total disbelief.

Aria laughed. "No Hanna. Not even that. Most definitely not that." Hanna's eyes showed a stronger disbelief than before. Aria whispered her next sentence at an almost inaudible level. "Hanna, it's not like we go back to his place and I dress up in a school girl outfit and he bends me over his desk."

Hanna laughed. "Really? Why not? Fitzy's a writer; he's got to have some ideas about what gets him going; what gets his blood boiling and his body riled up."

Aria was about to say something when a lightbulb went off in her head. "Hanna! That's it! That's exactly what I need to do!" Aria told Hanna the one thing that seemed to rile up Ezra the most and how Spirit Week would be the perfect time to implement this plan. Aria left lunch that day feeling excited and confident.


End file.
